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Regulation Tracker / EU AI Act / Chapter IX · Section 3

Article 77
Powers of authorities protecting fundamental rights and cooperation with market surveillance authorities

Chapter IX — Post-market monitoring by providers and post-market monitoring plan for high-risk AI systems, Section 3 — Market surveillance and control of AI systems in the Union market. 6 distinct duties, powers or definitions are coded from this article, applying from 2026-08-02. 5 reach legal practice directly.

Amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI), in force 2026-07-27 — about 180 words changed. The text below is the consolidated version of 27 July 2026; the 2024 text and the amending regulation are on EUR-Lex.

official text: EUR-Lex (consolidated 27 Jul 2026) · text © European Union (Decision 2011/833/EU) · coding CC BY 4.0 · data: obligations.json · Hugging Face · GitHub

The text

1. National public authorities or bodies which supervise or enforce the respect of obligations under Union law protecting fundamental rights, including the right to non-discrimination, shall have the power to request and access any information or documentation created or maintained from the relevant market surveillance authority pursuant to this Regulation in accessible language and machine-readable format by electronic means where access to that information or documentation is necessary for effectively fulfilling their mandates within the limits of their jurisdiction. This Article is without prejudice to the competences, tasks, powers and independence of the relevant national public authorities or bodies under their mandates.

1a. Subject to the conditions specified in this Article, the market surveillance authority shall grant the relevant public authority or body referred to in paragraph 1 access to such information or documentation, including by requesting such information or documentation from the provider or the deployer, where necessary and without undue delay.

1b. Market surveillance authorities and public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall cooperate closely and provide each other with the mutual assistance necessary to fulfil their respective mandates, with a view to ensuring the coherent application of this Regulation and Union law protecting fundamental rights and streamlining procedures, while respecting their respective competences, tasks, powers and independence. This shall include, in particular, exchange of information where necessary for the effective supervision or enforcement of this Regulation and the respective other Union legislation.

2. By 2 November 2024, each Member State shall identify the public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 and make a list of them publicly available. Member States shall notify the list to the Commission and to the other Member States, and shall keep the list up to date.

3. Where the documentation referred to in paragraph 1 is insufficient to ascertain whether an infringement of obligations under Union law protecting fundamental rights has occurred, the public authority or body referred to in paragraph 1 may make a reasoned request to the market surveillance authority, to organise testing of the high-risk AI system through technical means. The market surveillance authority shall organise the testing with the close involvement of the requesting public authority or body within a reasonable time following the request.

4. Any information or documentation obtained by the national public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article pursuant to this Article shall be treated in accordance with the confidentiality obligations set out in Article 78.

What it requires, coded

SafeLegalAI's reading of each duty in this article: who, what, from when, under which fine tier, and whether it reaches a firm, chambers, court or legal-AI vendor. Descriptive, not advice; the quoted words are the Regulation's.

  1. Art. 77(1)Enforcement powerHigh-risklegal practice

    National authorities or bodies supervising Union fundamental-rights obligations have power to request and access necessary AI Act information or documentation from the relevant market surveillance authority in accessible, machine-readable electronic form.

    "shall have the power to request and access any information or documentation created or maintained from the relevant market surveillance authority pursuant to this Regulation"
    Who
    Other, Market surveillance authority
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal practice directly — Fundamental-rights authorities may obtain information about high-risk legal or justice AI affecting discrimination or other rights.
    See
    Art. 77(1)

  2. Art. 77(1a)Cooperation with authoritiesHigh-risklegal practice

    Subject to Article 77 conditions, the market surveillance authority must grant those public authorities or bodies access, including by requesting information from providers or deployers where necessary and without undue delay.

    "the market surveillance authority shall grant the relevant public authority or body referred to in paragraph 1 access to such information or documentation"
    Who
    Market surveillance authority
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal practice directly — This can require regulator-to-regulator access to information about legal-AI providers or deployers.
    See
    Art. 77(1)

  3. Art. 77(1b)Cooperation with authoritiesHigh-risklegal practice

    Market surveillance authorities and fundamental-rights authorities must cooperate closely, provide mutual assistance and exchange necessary information to ensure coherent application and streamlined procedures.

    "Market surveillance authorities and public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall cooperate closely and provide each other with the mutual assistance necessary"
    Who
    Market surveillance authority, Other
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal practice directly — This supports coordinated handling of legal-AI systems that raise fundamental-rights issues.
    See
    Art. 77(1)

  4. Art. 77(2)Governance institutionalNot tier-specific

    Each Member State must identify Article 77(1) public authorities or bodies, publish the list, notify the Commission and other Member States, and keep the list updated.

    "each Member State shall identify the public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 and make a list of them publicly available."
    Who
    Member State
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal-AI vendors or public bodies — This identifies authorities that may be involved in legal-AI fundamental-rights supervision.
    See
    Art. 77(1)

  5. Art. 77(3)Enforcement powerHigh-risklegal practice

    Where documentation is insufficient to determine whether Union fundamental-rights obligations were infringed, the public authority or body may request technical testing and the market surveillance authority must organise it with close involvement of the requester.

    "the public authority or body referred to in paragraph 1 may make a reasoned request to the market surveillance authority, to organise testing of the high-risk AI system through technical means."
    Who
    Other, Market surveillance authority
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal practice directly — High-risk legal or justice AI can be technically tested where rights authorities cannot assess infringements from documentation alone.
    See
    Art. 77(1) · Art. 78

  6. Art. 77(4)Cooperation with authoritiesHigh-risklegal practice

    Information or documentation obtained by national fundamental-rights authorities or bodies under Article 77 must be treated under Article 78 confidentiality obligations.

    "Any information or documentation obtained by the national public authorities or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article pursuant to this Article shall be treated in accordance with the confidentiality obligations set out in Article 78."
    Who
    Other
    From
    (Art. 113 second subparagraph (general application))
    Legal practice
    Reaches legal practice directly — Confidentiality protects legal-AI providers and deployers when information reaches rights authorities.
    See
    Art. 78

Cite

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 77 (Powers of authorities protecting fundamental rights and cooperation with market surveillance authorities), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, consolidated text of 27 July 2026, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng#art_77 — text © European Union; only the Official Journal is authentic. Coding: SafeLegalAI (published by Cognesio LLP), "EU AI Act, structured", safelegalai.com/regulation/eu-ai-act/article-77, accessed 2026-09-08, CC BY 4.0.